Oven Roasted Tomatoes

Hello again! Have you noticed the surge of posts lately? It’s because I have been sitting on these recipes for a while now and I am cleaning out my computer before I move on! Don’t argue! Just bask in the cooking goodness….. Shh… shhh…. no talkie…. just bask…

This recipe came as a need to get rid of some cherry tomatoes that came into my posession this past summer. In the South, tomatoes are a ritual in the summer time, especially when you live close to Grainger County, Tennessee. Unfortunately, these tomatoes were not Grainger County maters and needed just a little bit of extra yumminess. I had heard of slow roasting tomatoes to use in pasta dishes and we all know that I loves me some pasta! I decided to take a few pointers from different sites and combine them all into one so here goes nuffin….

Step one: Gather your ingredients. You will need cherry tomatoes, fresh thyme, olive oil, salt, and fresh cracked pepper.

 

Step two: Wash tomatoes, slice in half, and let drain. Pat tomatoes dry with paper towel. Wash and chop thyme. Toss tomatoes with thyme, salt, pepper, and enough olive oil to coat.

 

 

Step three: Roast tomatoes in a 250 degree oven for a couple hours until the tomatoes look all shrively and caramelized and yummy.

 

 

Step four: Scrape tomatoes, oil, thyme, and all that yummy caramelized bits into jars and top with more olive oil. Store in fridge.

 

Oven Roasted Tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes

Fresh thyme

Olive oil

Salt and fresh pepper

Wash tomatoes, slice in half, drain, and pat dry with paper towels. Wash and chop thyme. Toss tomatoes with thyme, salt, pepper, and enough oil to coat on baking sheet. Bake in a 250 degree oven for a couple hours until tomatoes are shriveled. Scrape tomatoes, herbs, and oil off baking sheets into jars. Top off with more olive oil and store in fridge.

Thank you for reading.

Creamy Goodnes A.K.A Oh My Goodness

Ok, part two of my good day of cooking. I got the “wow” factor I was looking for when Doyle took a bite of this. Seriously, this may elicit marriage proposals for you. If you are already married, forget the previous sentence. I adapted this recipe from one I found on Tasty Kitchen. I urge you to check the website out! Its full of good recipes from many great cooks including a few from yours truly! www.tastykitchen.com Now I won’t keep you any further! On to the foodgasim! (I must apologize.)

Step one: Gather your ingredients. You are gonna need diced pancetta, shallots, garlic, heavy cream, red pepper flakes, black pepper, salt, cream cheese, sliced mushrooms, Parmesan cheese, eggs, olive oil, and linguine. Oh yeah, and some diced grape tomatoes!

Step two: Get out a big pot and fill with water. Add a smid…. er… dash or two of salt and set on stove. Turn that burner on high. We want to boil some pasta! Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente.

 

Step three: Finely dice your shallot, grate your Parmesan, and mince your garlic. Preparation is key baby!!

 

Step four: Put your heavy cream and cream cheese into a small saucepan and set on low. We just want to warm them up a bit so we can whisk them together to make it smooth and creamy. Mmmm….. creamy. Wait, that sounded dirty!! Commence school girl giggling!

Step five: Get out a large skillet and set on stove on medium high heat. When your pan is hot, add some olive oil and then your pancetta, shallot, garlic, and mushrooms. We want to caramelize them thangs!

 

 

Step six: Add your tomatoes and let them cook a couple of minutes to warm up.

 

Step seven: By now your pasta should be done. Reserve a cup of it for the sauce and drain the rest. Put pasta back into your hot pot.

 

 

Step eight: Now here’s where it goes quickly so be on your toes! Not really, standing on your toes hurts! Just be quick! Grab the cream and cream cheese mixture and add the eggs, black pepper, and Parmesan cheese while whisking so you won’t have creamy scrambled eggs. Although, the thought of cream, cream cheese, and Parmesan cheese in your scrambled eggs doesn’t sound so bad! Pour the cream mixture onto your pasta and add the mushroom mixture and toss to coat the pasta. Now put the skillet back onto the stove and deglaze your pan with the pasta water. We don’t want to waste all that yummy stuff on the bottom! And add to your pasta. Toss again. Serve, sit back, and watch the foodgasims. ( I apologize again.)

 

Oh My Goodness

7 oz. pkg. of diced pancetta

8 oz. pkg. sliced mushrooms

2 shallots, finely diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

Salt and pepper, to taste

Crushed red pepper flakes, just a dash will do ya!

1/2 to 2/3 c. diced grape tomatoes

1/4 to 1/3 c. of fresh grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 (4oz.) of an 8 oz. tub of cream cheese with chives

1/2 c. heavy cream

2 eggs

Olive oil

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add pasta. Cook according to package directions. Place cream and heavy cream in a small pot and put on low heat to gently warm. Heat a large skillet on high heat and add olive oil. Toss in pancetta, mushrooms, shallots, and garlic. Cook for five or so minutes to caramelize ingredients. Add tomatoes. Cook for a few minutes to warm tomatoes. Drain pasta, reserving a cup of water for sauce. Put pasta back into hot pot. Remove small pot from stove and whisk until smooth. Add eggs, black pepper, and Parmesan cheese, whisking constantly. Pour over hot pasta. Add mushroom mixture and toss to coat. Return skillet to pan and add pasta water to deglaze. Pour water over pasta and toss again. Eat. Rejoice. Loosen pants.

Thank you for reading.

Canning Maters

My daddy brought me two 25 lb. boxes of the famous Grainger County tomatoes er…. maters.  Grainger County maters are considered candy around these parts so it is important to properly put them up. A rotten mater is something to cry over. Now, I want to stress that I have zero experience in canning aside from canning a couple of jars of preserves once and it was as overwhelming then as it was now. Ack! Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against canning. I would love to grow and can and/or freeze everything we eat around here. It certainly would be very healthy and cost conscious. I just need a bigger stove! And more patience! And feet that hurt less! Moving on!

On a whim, I decided finally pick up a water bath canner while picking up some cream and a muzzle for my dog (Yes, I said cream and muzzle. What can I say? He’s my special boy!) at a local supply store. I paid around $59.00 and it included a rack, tongs, magnet thingy, spatula thingy (Yes, I did graduate with honors. Why do you ask?), and a funnel. With my new toy in hand, I decided to throw caution in the wind and go for it. Lets do this…..

Gather your ingredients and equipment because once this gets going, you gotta work fast! You will need tomatoes (DUH!) that have been washed, a canner with a rack or a large pot with a towel in the bottom of it, can tongs or a strong set of regular tongs, a magnet thingy, spatula, jars with lids and screw bands, a few large pots, one medium pot, several towels, cutting board, big girl knife, lemon juice (bottled, not fresh), salt, and sugar.

See the little spatula thingy? It has handy little notches to measure head space in your jars!

Step one: Put jars into dishwasher and set to sanitize cycle. Wash lids and rings in hot soapy water and rinse well. On a side note: Did you know you can cut your thumb on a lid while washing it? You can! Dry rings thoroughly and set aside. Place lids in medium pot. Alternate lids in layers. Lay first layer, face down, lay second layer face up, etc. Cover lids with water. Set pot on stove.

Step two: Fill up your canner halfway with water and set on stove or fold a clean towel, place in bottom of large pot and fill halfway with water. Set on stove. Get extra pot and fill with hot water and set on stove or set in oven and turn oven on to 400 degrees. This will be your extra hot water to top off your canner. Just for kicks, set another big pot on stove (This will be your mater pot.) to see if it will actually fit. WHEE! It does!

Step three: Move your mater pot out of the way. Get (yet ANOTHER) large pot and fill with hot water. Set on stove on high heat and bring to a boil. Plop in your tomatoes, a few at a time, and boil until the skins split, about 60 seconds. Remove maters from water and immediately put into cool water. The skins will slip right off!

Good grief! They’re naked!

This is the point in time where you are reminded of that nasty little cut on your thumb when Satan opens all seven gates of Hell on it when the tomato juice hits it. You will be reminded of this repeatedly throughout this process.

Step four: Spend next 45 minutes cursing the maters while you are chopping them up. Remember! Gates of Hell! Put them into pot and set pot onto stove. Bring maters to a boil and boil gently for 5 minutes. Turn on all pots while you are chopping maters, this gives the water time to heat up.

*Sob!* He was such a good little spoon. He will be remembered…..

Step five: Remove hot jars from dishwasher. Put a 1/2 teaspoon of salt and sugar, each, and a tablespoon of bottled lemon juice in each jar. Fill jar with hot maters, leaving a 1/2 inch of head space. Slide spatula down sides of jar to remove bubbles.

Step six: Wipe of rims of jars with damp towel. Use magnet thingy to get lids out of hot water and place on top of jars. Secure with rings. Don’t over tighten rings.

Step seven: Place jars inside canning rack and place rack in canner that is hopefully filled with boiling water or carefully place jars on towel in large pot with tongs. Use extra hot water to cover jars. You want the water to cover jars by at least an inch. Bring to a boil, cover, and process for 35 minutes for pint-sized jars. Higher altitudes need to process longer. Use the USDA guidelines for your altitude.

Step eight: Turn heat off and let canner cool for 15 minutes. Remove jars from canner and set on a towel to cool for the next 12-24 hours. If you did it right, you will hear popping!

Step nine: Sob at the sight of your stove and kitchen. Grab a beer and GO SIT DOWN FOR POOP’S SAKE!

Thank you for reading.

Pasta with Fresh Mozzarella

Warning: The following post contains snippets of my life that includes sex, pregnancy, and pasta. I apologize in advance.

I have to say, the herbs in my garden have really taken off and I have dying to use them! The problem is….. I have kids. Yep. Kids. Two of them. Yo.u know what that means…… I get to warp two small children and turn them into weird adults! YAY! It also means that I had S-E-X. Yep…. that too. When I got pregnant with Kayla, I remember making Doyle tell everybody because I was too embarrassed to admit to my family that I was having “relations” with my husband! Even though we had been married for two years! Yes, I was and still am that weird. Love it or leave it! Now that I have strayed WAAAAAY of course, the reason I haven’t used fresh herbs is because the kids simply aren’t into eating them. I am going to remedy this starting now!! Herb Lady! AWAAAAYYYY!!

Step one: You are going to need pasta of your choice, a small handful of fresh basil, a tomato, an 8 oz. ball of fresh mozzarella, pepper, salt, Parmesan cheese, and olive oil.

 

 

Step two: Dice up the tomato and put in your bowl. Sprinkle with salt and fresh cracked pepper. Set aside.

 

 

Step three: Dice mozzarella and finely chop basil. Put in bowl with tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil, and toss to coat.

 

 

 

Step four: Bring large pot of salted water to boil and add pasta. Cook until al dente and drain. Immediately dump hot pasta on top of tomato mixture. Suddenly remember that your kids won’t eat the pasta after it gets tossed so grab some on top and put in on a plate for the kids. Toss the rest of the pasta with the tomato mixture.

 

 

 

Step five: Put pasta on plate and garnish with fresh grated Parmesan and a sprinkle of salt. Take a bite and moan in ecstasy. Turn moan in cough when said kids look at you like you have a third eye.

Pasta with Fresh Mozzarella

Approximately 1 lb. of pasta of your choice

Small handful of fresh basil

Tomato

8 oz. ball of fresh mozzarella

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Parmesean cheese

Chop tomato and put into bowl with salt and pepper. Set aside. Dice up mozzarella and finely chop basil. Put into bowl with tomato and drizzle with olive oil. Toss to coat. Cook pasta in salted boiling water and drain. Immediately dump onto tomato mixture. Toss to coat. Serve with grated Parmesan to taste.

Thank you for reading.